... well, basically boom boxes with no mufflers that can't get out of their own way. My Pontiac mini van has put them to shame a number of times (without even putting my foot through the fuel injectors). Putting a rear spoiler on them is like putting legs and antennae on a carrot and calling it a lobster - it just doesn't work. The things don't go fast enough for ground effects to kick in (not meaning the one in the picture), and if they do, PA's finest will be happy to show them how much faster a Crown Vic is. My buddy's Porche actually DOES go fast enough for that, but his spoiler is just a little ski-slope behind the rear window.

Just curious, but what's the black #24 based on? It looks like a Camero, but not quite.

2. '78 Camaro, original body

it's the wheels that make it look different. Pro "oversize load" truckdriver - nobody better at using exactly 100% of the road. Several of the Soobies, and Steve's Golf, make big power (300++ at the wheels) , but require wizard dyno tuning to avoid burning pistons, and real race gas to avoid detonation at 20+ psi boost.

7. I hope he doesn't have to get it inspected in PA - EVERY factory light has to work.

You know those lit up "screaming chicken" Trans Am hoods? They've got like 400 lights in them (and not cheap ones) and EVERY FUCKING ONE has to work to get through inspection. I'm not shitting you. That's PA law. Aftermarket lights don't have to work, but factory installed ALL have to work, including interior.

I had a Buick Centurian with a 455 4bbl, so I can appreciate the engine size. I think I told you before, but I've got a '68 Galaxie fastback with a 390. Those used to be regular priced cars. Now, anything with a performance engine costs $40K plus. The 390 wasn't even considered "performance" (bolt compatible with the 360 and 330 truck engines). The 428 "cop" motor was the performance engine. This is my car (same style, but mine's all white with a dark red interior)...

On Edit: Yes, I've had sex both in AND on her. I can also lie down in the trunk. She's about 19 1/2 feet long and pretty wide. The rear window is larger than any other I've ever seen. The 428 sedans were common interceptors in '68. They only made about 6,000 fastbacks, but the sedans were up in the 80,000 range (forget exactly). My grandfather bought mine new when I was 5. My mother drove it and gave it to me in 1980 or so. To work on the engine, I'd sit on the radiator with my feet on either side of the engine. On some of the newer cars, you can't even SEE the fucking engine for all the clutter, much less get your foot in it. Hell, it's hard enough to get a HAND in them. Times have changed.

10. '56 pickup?

I'm a ford guy, mostly. My grandfather (the one who bought the Galaxie) was a Ford mechanic his entire life, well, after he got out of the service in WW-II. I still have his tool chest and most if not all of his tools. One I never understood was a long bar with a rotating 1/4" socket wrench end. I finally found out a few years back when I had to tension the wheel on the serpentine belt on my 93 Sable wagon. This is a 40+ year old tool but it still worked for the original purpose.

12. I don't go back that far in the engine department. Straight 200, V8-390, and 289 are my gig.

I've worked on a lot of non-ford engines, but I know those three pretty well. The 298 small block was a fire cracker in a Falcon. It also had a coffee can (seriously) that I never figured out the purpose for. It obviously served some function, no clue. My 200 was in my '70 Maverick and I could tear apart just about any part of the engine and put it back together on the street outside my apartment building. I changed the water pump in 15 minutes start to finish. It would take me 2 hours just to GET to the water pump on the Sable. I've mostly given up on doing my own maintenance except in emergency situations.

My Pontiac has a 3.4 and the Sable has a 3.6, but both of them are impossible to work on because they packed so much shit into such a tiny cavity. The hood on a 60/70 US car provided ample room for tools and body parts. Hell, the 91 Escort I bought new was basically a Mazda 323 engine with US bolts. It's got over 300K on it now and I sold it ten years ago with 150K on it. The transmission was the downfall (as it is with all Mazda transmissions). The engine just won't quit. Ford uses Mazda for R&D and then makes real cars out of the experiment models. Cool strategy.

Personally, I think the straight engines are better than the V engines, but you need a hell of a lot of room to cram 8, 10, or 12 cylinders into a straight block. That's where Jaguar comes in. My 200 straight in the Maverick could easily outrun most Cameros and all of the rice burners. The Galaxie put all of those to shame more easily. I just don't drive like that anymore, but I do occasionally knock out a go-cart in the mini van just for fun (and then act like I didn't notice them). I know, I'm a dickhead.

6. The Dennis family has used up about every clapped-out GLHish Mopar in New England

Dad, 4 sons, 2 grandsons, 1 wife racing so far. The Magic Rabbit" - part of their current fleet, originally built by Bill Rutan (Bert's cousin) - It may look like a Rabbit, and have Volkswagen parts, no turbo, fast as a stock Soobie STI.

17. Our wrecker dude collects them!

Between him and his buddies and the Dennis boys, we've seen everrything up through the Shelby GSX, and the "Super 80" Mopar Performance setup. They will make enough power that the firewall will move under your feet! Dad D won a championship with a time trial club using a twin DCOE Weber carb setup (still "in the barn"), which may end up in the 2.2./Spitfire hybrid they've been messing with (the Dakota transmission turns out to be the weak link).
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This is a Don Letarte LMS chassis, repowered with a Joe Alameda (ex NHRA SS racer) 440 - Joe has MS, and this was his last 440. the front clip got bent up last year, so they are working on a new chassis using all the (NASCAR style) running gear from this car, all stuffed into a Challenger shell. Where have you heard the name Letarte? Dale Jr's crewchief in Cup......

18. Don't forget Jim Hall and Hal Sharp

19. Where the "wing cars" and Chapparal technology went

One of our kingpins is Gerry Driscoll, Mt. Washington speed record holder @113 mph. JD is known for his big block Chevy./automatic trans combination - just like the Chapparal! What is not well understood about this combination is the driver skill required for downshifting - a mis-timed downshift will spin the car just like a yank on an E-brake!

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I'll be posting a thread soon on America's F1 - the "Monsters of the Midway" ISMA supermodifieds. The fuel-injected big-block Chevy engines are similar to the Chapparals (and McLarens) of Can-Am, but they gulp methanol now and produce 880+ horsepower. Their wings use technology long since quashed by FIA - like the Chapparal, they adjust downforce for accelleration or cornering - some put the downforce directly into the wheels, as did some of the Lotus F1 cars.